A/N: Short chapters for now, but I have plans for longer ones in the future. Sorry it's taken me so long to update!

Jimmy sat down for a quick bite to eat at a deli near the rink after practice. He found a table outside and began enjoying his sandwich. He thought about the week and how little progress he felt he's made. He didn't want to let anyone down. He wasn't trying to give less than his best.

He set his cup down and heard a small clink on the ground beside him.

He looked to the pavement and saw a small silver bead. He glanced at the sidewalk, noticing a girl walking briskly.

He looked back at the dropped bead in his hand, realizing it was the charm to what he assumed was the girl's bracelet.

It was a pair of hockey skates dangling from their laces.

He rushed from his seat to return the charm to the woman. He tapped her shoulder gently and was whipped with a mouthful of brown hair that smelled like strawberries.

Her eyes grew wide with recognition.

"Hey…you!" she exclaimed as if she were talking to an old pal. She even added an awkward punch to his shoulder.

"Uh…hi!" he replied, proud of his ability to string together a sentence.

"I think you dropped this."

She glanced at her wrist adorned with a charm bracelet.

"Oh!" She called out, thumbing at the missing space in an array of other little charms.

"Of all charms!" she laughed. "The goalie finds the hockey skates."

Jimmy grinned like a fool, absent-mindedly letting his hand linger a few seconds too long as he placed the charm in her hand.

A rosy hue came to her cheeks as she pulled her hand away from his away to put the charm on her bracelet.

"At least I didn't set anything on fire." She thought with a smile.

He ran his fingers through his hair nervously, unsure of what to say. He was in a bit of shock himself.

He wasn't one to believe in fate or the old adage "everything happens for a reason." He lost his mom too soon, and he couldn't imagine what sort of purpose that served. It stung.

Seeing this girl, a girl he still didn't know the name of, was nothing more than coincidence, but he couldn't just let her walk away this time.

Before he could spit out the first thing that came to mind, he felt one hand gently touch his back and the other gripping his shoulders.